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https://archives.deerfieldlibrary.org/files/original/0a4b562fad64464b97529c7d45314923.pdf
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Dear Deerfield Park District Board,
All over our country, we have symbols of our history. Local histories, state histories and national histories, are all
remembered and honored throughout our land. And while many of these histories are important and valuable
to our current societal identity, there are some parts of our history that do not deserve honoring., While they
should be remembered, they should be seen as a dark time in our history, and we should want to reverse the
ramifications. The creation of Mitchell Park is one of those times.
Most people who reside in our town today were not around in 1959 during the controversy of Mitchell Park,
known at the time as the Floral Park Subdivision, but it was a very important time in our history. In early
November of that year, it became known that a company called Progress Development Corporation would be
building houses on the Floral Park Subdivision in Deerfield, along with a neighboring subdivision known as Pear
Tree, now known as Jaycee Park. However, unlike many new houses in the rapidly growing suburb of Deerfield,
Progress Development Corporation intended to sell some of these new homes to African-Americans, and
integrate the town.
This notion of integration was not a new one. Two years after the Little Rock Nine walked into Little Rock Central
High School, schools and towns all over the country were starting to integrate. But when the prospect of
integration came to Deerfield, there was push back. People were outraged with the prospect of AfricanAmerican families moving to Deerfield. They believed that their presence would drop everyone’s property
values, and would stir up trouble in the community as well. After weeks of controversy, the President of the
Deerfield Park District Board, James Mitchell, put the issue to its first formal vote when he proposed that the
land that was about to be developed for the Floral Park and Pear Tree subdivisions be condemned and then
developed as public parks, effectively preventing the integration of the town. Mr. Mitchell had not been
particularly active in the anti-integration efforts previously., But now he was actively using his power to prevent
integration.
The referendum on the land took place on Monday, December 21, 1959, and with a 95% turnout rate, the voters
of Deerfield condemned the land to become parks by more than a two to one margin. One of these parks was
later named after the President of the Park Board, as James C. Mitchell Park.
The naming of this park as Mitchell Park sends a clear message to a wide spread of people about the values that
Deerfield still holds. Minority families who are considering moving to Deerfield may see this symbol of racism
and continue to choose not move into our community, preserving the shocking lack of diversity of Deerfield, in
which 94% of our population is white according to the last census. Our children, who are already negatively
impacted by this lack of diversity in our community, see this symbol of the anti-integration movement and can
infer that it is acceptable to honor the choices that those people made to prevent African-Americans from
moving into their town simply because of the color of their skin. Instead we should be working to rid the earth,
of discrimination forever.
I therefore ask that this Board take the necessary actions to change the name of this park as soon as possible.
We should not remove James C. Mitchell’s name from Mitchell Park with any intent of personal disrespect
towards James Mitchell or his family. Mr. Mitchell’s name is simply a symbol that honors a misguided part of
Deerfield’s history. We should rename the park with a more inclusive name, and honor a set of values that
deserves honoring in this day and age.
Respectfully submitted,
Alec Lopata
Deerfield High School Class of 2015
901 Kenton Rd
Deerfield, IL 60015
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Deerfield Integration Case Records
Subject
The topic of the resource
American Civil Rights Movement
Deerfield, Illinois
Integration in the North
Racial Integration
Racial Segregation
Description
An account of the resource
The records related to the Deerfield Integration Case of 1959 include books, DVDs, a VHS tape, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and meeting minutes.
Publisher
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Deerfield Public Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Bulk Dates 1959-1968
Date Range 1955-2018
Relation
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Bob Gand Papers
Language
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English
Identifier
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DPL.0001
Text
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Dublin Core
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Title
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Renaming Mitchell Park Position Paper
Deerfield Park Commissioners Meeting Minutes August 20, 2015
Description
An account of the resource
A position paper by a senior at Deerfield High School and the meeting minutes of the Park Board where he presented the paper.
Creator
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Lopata, Alec
Julison, Rick
Source
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Alec Lopata
Date
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08/20/2015
Contributor
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Antokal, Gil
Caron, Jan
Lapin, Gregory
Patinkin, Rick
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
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DPL.0001.037.002
Affordable Housing
Alec Lopata
David H. Rosen
Deerfield High School
Deerfield Illinois
Deerfield Illinois Wikipedia Page
Deerfield Integration
Deerfield Park District
Deerfield Park District Board of Commissioners
Deerfield Segregation
Floral Park Subdivision
Gil Antokal
Gregory Lapin
Harry M. Rosen
Housing Integration
James C. Mitchell
Jan Caron
Jaycee Park
Little Rock Central High School
Little Rock Nine
Mitchell Park
Park Referendum
Pear Tree Subdivision
Progress Development Corporation
Property Values
Property Values and Race
Proposal to Rename Mitchell Park
Rick Julison
Rick Patinkin
Wilmot School
Zion Woods
-
https://archives.deerfieldlibrary.org/files/original/980a3374245fb6b0e181e86069ce257e.pdf
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Deerfield Integration Case Records
Subject
The topic of the resource
American Civil Rights Movement
Deerfield, Illinois
Integration in the North
Racial Integration
Racial Segregation
Description
An account of the resource
The records related to the Deerfield Integration Case of 1959 include books, DVDs, a VHS tape, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and meeting minutes.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Deerfield Public Library
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
Bulk Dates 1959-1968
Date Range 1955-2018
Relation
A related resource
Bob Gand Papers
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DPL.0001
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Decades Ago, Deerfield Had Different Debate
Creator
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Sadin, Steve
Source
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Deerfield Review
Publisher
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Pioneer Press
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
08/16/2018
Language
A language of the resource
English
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
DPL.0001.033.001
Affordable Housing
But Not Next Door
Chicago Illinois
Controlled Occupancy Policy
David Mitchell
Death Threats
Debbie Berggren
Debbie Berggren Hoyt
Debbie Hoyt
Deerfield High School
Deerfield Illinois
Deerfield Integration
Deerfield Integration Lawsuits
Deerfield Park District
Deerfield Park District Board of Directors
Deerfield Planning Commission
Deerfield Review
Deerfield Road
Deerfield Village Board of Trustees
Deerfield Village Hall
Deerfield Zoning Ordinances
Deerspring Pool
Eleanor Roosevelt
Floral Park Subdivision
Glen Koets
Green Oaks
Harriet Rosenthal
Hazel Avenue
Hillary Wolff
Integrated Neighborhoods and Developments
James C. Mitchell
Jaycee Park
Karl J. Berliant
Ku Klux Klan
Lake County Circuit Court
Land Condemnation
Larry Berliant
Millicent Berliant
Mitchell Park
Neighborhood Character
Newspaper Article
One Deerfield Place
Park Referendum
Paul V. Berggren
Pear Tree Subdivision
Pioneer Press
Property Values
Religious Response to Integration
Religious Response to the Deerfield Integration Case
Shepard Middle School
South Park School
Steve Friedland
Steve Sadin
Teenage Response
United States Census
United States Federal District Court
Wilmot Road
Workforce Housing
Zion Lutheran Church
Zion Woods